A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a more resistant layer or layers of harder rock, e.g. shales overlain by sandstones. The resistant layer acts as a caprock that forms the flat summit of a mesa. The caprock can consist of either sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone; dissected lava flows; or a deeply eroded duricrust. Unlike plateau, whose usage does not imply horizontal layers of bedrock, e.g. Tibetan Plateau, the term mesa applies exclusively to the landforms built of flat-lying strata. Instead, flat-topped plateaus are specifically known as tablelands.
Huangzhong District is a district under the jurisdiction of Xining City, Qinghai Province. it is located in the east of Qinghai Province, bordering Huangyuan County of Xining City to the west, and bordering on the south, north and east, respectively, adjacent to the middle of the city, north of the city, west of the city and east of the city. The geographical coordinates are 36 °13 °32 "~ 37 °03 °19" east longitude 101 °09 32 "~ 101 °54 square kilometers, with a total area of 2700 square kilometers. As of 2018, Huangzhong District has jurisdiction over 1 street, 10 towns, 5 townships, and another township-level unit: Ganhe Industrial Park. By the beginning of 2019, the region has a resident population of 460100, which is a large population area in Qinghai. There are 13 ethnic minorities, including Hui, Tibet, Turkey and Mongolia. In 2011, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Huangzhong District reached 12.445 billion yuan.